A few weeks ago, as I walked the near deserted streets of Odessa, Ukraine, I was struck by an incongruous scene. Though more than half of residents have fled the war’s missile strikes and nightly air-raids, vestiges of its wealthy elite’s earlier preoccupations with carbon footprints still abounded.
Among the G-Wagons, Range Rovers, and Landcruisers streaking across its cobblestones and belle-époque avenues, and just a short ways from where a Russian cruise missile exploded last week, were a conspicuous number of electric vehicles from China, the U.S., and Europe.
Also last month, Ukraine’s largest electricity producer confirmed that this winter Ukrainians may face up to 20 hours a day without power, a frightening consequence of a war where energy has been weaponized.
As America heads into election season and Ukraine res under martial law with elections indefinitely suspended, Americans who love their fast cars and freedom need to reflect. Under Biden, they are also under siege.
Since Biden took office, U.S. drivers have felt his contempt for combustion—gasoline prices have skyrocketed over 55 percent, car insurance payments have risen over 51 percent, car and truck leases are 46 percent more expensive, and auto repair costs are up over 40 percent.
As if the nation’s 240 million licensed drivers weren’t already feeling sideswiped by inflation, hard-working Americans are now being pressured to shoulder the financial burden for the supposed global impact of our car culture. To these prophets and high priests of climate doom, the internal combustion engine and everything it represents is to be deplored. The Biden administration claims that only through the government-mandated adoption of electric vehicles (EVs)—which are both unaffordable and unwanted by most Americans—can we redeem ourselves.
EV mandates are yet another way the Biden administration strips freedom and happiness from Americans and replaces them with control and futility. This November, Americans will reject this at the ballot box, choosing fast cars and freedom over fear and loathing. After four years of enforced suffering, juggling multiple part-time jobs and side hustles just to make ends meet, they have had enough. On Day One, President Trump will roll back all of Biden’s policies that are undermining America’s car culture and halting the actions that threaten 117,000 U.S. autoworker jobs.
Many still recall when the American road was open, daring, and free—think Vin Diesel in his 1970 Dodge Charger from Fast and Furious. (Notably, his co-star The Rock has refused to endorse Biden this election, distancing himself from the President’s anti-auto policies.) Meanwhile, Biden, in his ’67 Stingray and Ray-Ban aviators, tries hard to cop this cool even as he wages war on the American automotive industry.
The new tailpipe emissions regulations issued by Biden’s EPA in March will drastically reshape the U.S. automobile landscape in ways few Americans want. By 2032, the aim is for half to two-thirds of new cars sold to be EVs or so-called zero-emission vehicles, including hydrogen-powered ones. Meanwhile, California plans to ban gas-powered vehicle sales outright by 2035.
Since their introduction, only 3 million EVs have been sold in the U.S.—just 1 percent of the country’s entire fleet of automobiles. Out of our nation’s 290 million autos, there are a mere 17,000 hydrogen vehicles on U.S. roads, all in California. Despite the absurdity of this forced transition, the underlying grift is becoming clearer. Biden promised 500,000 electric charging stations by 2030 but has spent over $7.5 billion by March to build just seven in four states. Each station, according to the Times of India, costs as much as constructing a new Taj Mahal today.
Americans aren’t buying these false promises—or EVs for that matter. Over 60 percent believe EVs help address climate change “only a little” (35 percent) or not at all (26 percent). After peaking at shockingly low numbers, EV sales are now declining. In Q1 2024, EV sales fell after four years of stunted growth. Last year, Ford aimed to produce 150,000 all-electric F-150 Lightnings but managed to sell just 24,000, leading to massive losses and job cuts for U.S. workers.EVs themselves pose a danger to other drivers, even beyond the risks of automated driving systems, and are twice as likely to kill pedestrians. Most EVs weigh 20–50 percent more than gas-powered vehicles due to heavy batteries that can themselves weigh as much as a small car. You don’t need a physics degree to grasp what this implies for a collision or the added stress on roads. For example, the Hummer EV-1, ironically from a lineage long derided by the left, weighs over 9,000 pounds, including a 2,900-pound battery pack. Research sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shows that most guardrails across thousands of miles of U.S. roadways are vastly inadequate to handle the extra force from EV collisions.
Ironically, one place where demand for EV’s seems to be growing is back in wartime Ukraine, however, for reasons you might not expect. Some of these new EV’s are being purchased with donor money, including with U.S. funds directed through the World Bank. One program handed out 75 new Chinese-made MG4 EV’s in a joint program with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health. Also, while used EV prices in the U.S. plummet and Hertz dumps 20,000 used Teslas onto the market, Ukraine seems to be oddly stepping up as a buyer, importing 6,000 used Teslas in the first four months of 2024 alone, slightly more than its 5,000 new Chinese imports. One reason why: many of these used EV’s have been involved in accidents back home in the U.S. and while deemed unsafe and unrepairable here, are finding new life on Ukrainian roads. There is even a joke in Ukraine that EV’s are a poor man’s car and the rich only drive gasoline powered vehicles.
Finally, while mandating a surge in electric vehicle production, which heavily depends on Chinese components, Biden has also imposed new tariffs on Chinese imports. These tariffs, which include substantial increases on semiconductors, lithium-ion EV batteries, and other critical minerals, will drive up costs and disrupt the market.
The Biden administration’s contradictory economic policies—imposing tariffs on Chinese imports while mandating a surge in electric vehicle production that depends on Chinese components—will wreak havoc on the U.S. auto industry. Americans—and Odessans in West Texas and Ukraine alike—want a fast car to get themselves out of this dangerous green new deal. Thankfully, for Americans and auto lovers, help is on the way. President Trump will eliminate the impractical policies and priorities of Joe Biden’s agenda, restoring sanity and freedom on the roads and in everyday life.
Read the full article here